Wasting Away
by deanangst
Summary: Sophies departure is hard on everyone.


Prompt : Leverage, Eliot/anyone but Nate, clean your plate

Disclaimer: I own nothing, just showing my love for a wonderful show. No harm intended. 

Title: Wasting Away

I guess it really shouldn't have come to as much of a surprise as it did when we were confronted with the side effects of Eliot burning the candle at both ends. The biggest surprise was Nate swallowing his pride and setting the plan, to set things right, into motion.

We've been lost in a state of mourning. Sophie's departure after her untimely 'death' has affected us in ways that are hard to describe. We've always compared our little group to a family and we are all feeling the pain of losing a loved one. For Nate it's been like going thru a divorce. His moods changing rapidly between Anger and heartbreak. He lost his wife but still has the kids to look after. For Parker and myself, well I guess we've lost our mom. Eliot has done his best to step up and fill the role of buffer between us and Nate's occasional drunken verbal rage. At the same time he is struggling to remain our big brother, but he's feeling the strain. Sophie was his mom and big sister all rolled into one. She allowed him to split his time between the grown-ups and the kids. As if she was encouraging him to recapture some of the innocence that he lost to early in life. 

Tara's arrival has only added to the tension in our somewhat happy home. It's no surprise that we are all a little leery of letting her in and although Eliot is trying to keep the peace, he's clearly not happy about being played, or the fact that he has another loose cannon to keep an eye on.

So Eliot has stopped being..Eliot. Reverting back to the hitter we met on that first job over a year ago. He spends more and more time trying to make sure Nate doesn't get us killed with his outrageous plans and less time 'playing' with us or relaxing in the kitchen. The absence of home cooked meals went virtually unnoticed as we have all been lost in the midst of so many other changes. 

Now, two months later Nate has finally taken the training wheels off and accepted a job that calls for more than one inside man. Tara has pulled out Eliot's rack of clothing from the supply room, the ones Sophie had purchased shortly before she left, and has spent the better part of two hours making Eliot try on each and every item. Eliot, for his part, simply rolls his eyes and accepts the new outfit she holds out. Only growling a little as he heads into the bathroom to change. 

When Eliot emerges the first time we all stare, it's like we've been slapped in the face. It grows worse with each outfit. 

"What?" He asks looking down to be sure he remembered to zip his pants. 

Tara steps forward and takes in the fit of the suit. "No, this will never do." Thrusting another outfit at the hitter she ushers him back to the bathroom. 

Once he's gone Tara speaks. "Honestly with this wardrobe I'm surprised he ever pulled off a con. That was a $2,000.00 suit and it fit like a K-mart clearance special. I expected better of Sophie." Tara rambled on while looking back thru the rack. 

When no one responded she looked up to see Parker and myself staring at Nate. It was clear that there was an intense conversation being carried out despite the silence. 

"Oh come on...you saw that. Sophie must have really been slipping. The jacket was to lose thru the shoulders and those pants were so baggy they looked like they were about to fall off." Tara waved her hand at the group. 

Nate rolled his eyes and fished out a credit card from his wallet, never breaking eye contact with us. "Here, why don't you go see if you can do better. We've got to be ready to go in the morning." Nate told the grifter. The blonde snatched the card from his fingers and all but pranced out of the apartment. Seeming all to happy to spend someone else's money. 

"I need a belt." Eliot barked as he stomped back into the room, looking for Tara. "Where'd she go?" 

"She said nothing would do, so she's headed out to find something suitable." Nate said. 

"Perfect, I spend the day playing her personal Ken doll only to have Barbie take off to get more clothes for me to try on. Sophie owes me big." Eliot muttered, stopping on his way to the bathroom as if expecting me to have some snide remark. He really had left himself open with the Ken doll comment, but I just couldn't bring myself to say anything.

"What?" he asked, tired frustration clear in his voice. 

"Nothin' man." I say as I take a slight step back and raise my hands in a peaceful manner. "I'm gonna order dinner...Kung Po chicken sound good?" I ask knowing that it's his favorite. 

"Yeah whatever you want man, I'm not that hungry." He waves me off and heads back to the bathroom, I half expect to see a trail burned in the floor from his many trips. 

I think it was his that last comment that made Nate pull out his cell phone and call Sophie. 

Leverage Leverage Leverage

The doorbell rang seconds before the six computer monitors came alive. "Sophie!" Parker chirped in fake surprise as I carried in the bags from Red Sun. 

"Sophie! Everything alright?" Eliot asked as he dropped a stack of paper plates and napkins onto the coffee table. 

"Everything is fine, I was just...feeling a bit lonely and thought I'd join you for dinner, although...is that Red Sun? I think you've got the better meal." 

It was amazing how the tension levels in the room dropped. It was almost as if Sophie was truly there in the room with us as we ate, laughing and teasing as we had before. When Eliot went to grab a fried sugar donut Sophie stopped him, with a line she usually reserved for Parker, just like old times. 

"Clean your plate Eliot...then you can have dessert." She said it casually in between talking to Parker but the order was clear. 

Before Eliot had a chance to respond I piped up. "Yeah Eliot...eat all you veggies so you can be big and strong when you grow up." 

"Oh...I'll show you big and strong..." Eliot bit out. Dropping his plate onto the table and lunging at me. 

Parker continued to crunch on an ear of baby corn as she watched Eliot pin me to the floor. It only took a moment for the temptation to become too much for the thief and she launched herself into the tangle of limbs. 

Smiling Nate turned to Sophie. "I think things are getting back to normal already." 

The End


End file.
